Beckley area man pleads guilty to distributing oxymorphone

BECKLEY, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Christopher Lee Saunders, 42, of Beckley, West Virginia, plead guilty in federal court in Beckley to distributing oxymorphone.  Saunders admitted that on January 22, 2015, he sold oxymorphone to a confidential informant working with law enforcement authorities.  The drug deal took place on the WalMart parking lot located at Robert C. Byrd Drive in MacArthur, West Virginia.  

Saunders faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.  United States District Judge Irene C. Berger scheduled the sentencing for October 8, 2015.

The Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit conducted the investigation.

This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin.  The United States Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.